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Some believe that the peak had religious significance to the Bronze Age people who inhabited this area. This theory is supported by the large number of standing stones in the surrounding area. The significance is believed to be connected to the profile of the hill, which is shaped like a female breast, which is reflected in the name "Mither Tap" (Mother Top) and "Bennachie" (Beinn na Ciche: 'hill of the breast'). It has been suggested as a possible site of the battle of Mons Graupius. An alternative Gaelic etymology from *Beinn a' Chath, i.e. 'hill of the battle', is perhaps a possibility. From 1800 to 1859 common land on the east side of Bennachie was home to a community of squatters known locally as the Colony.[4] A small number of families led a Crofting life often doing skilled work, such as dyking and quarrying, for local landowners. After 1859 the Colony dwindled as the common land was broken up and divided amongst the local estates. However, the last of the original colonists, George Esson, lived on the hill until his death in the 1930s. Visitors to Bennachie can explore the remains of the Colony and extensive work is being done on site and amongst local parish records to determine the history of the Colonists. Mither Tap has an astronomical alignment with the nearby Pictish Fortalice of Caskieben (currently located within Keith Hall). Dr. Arthur Johnston said[5] "the hill of Benochie, a conical elevation about eight miles distant, casts its shadow over Caskieben at the periods of the equinox."